Week 78: Back to Bathrooms

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Hello good people of the world, here's to another week and it’s oncoming challenges. But before I delve in, I would like to know how is everyone getting on with their property journey? Do drop me a line in the comment box below as it's always good to hear another perspective. I for one attended my first post covid wedding in the capital city of London over the weekend and oh boy, how different does London look. Each time I visit I can’t help but notice all the great structures and how regeneration has taken shape. I can't help but speak about this and possibly bore my fellow commuters; does this sound familiar, anyone?

There is a lot of to and fro and overlaps that takes place as one minute you could be working head on with a very specific issue then bam! You have to pick up a task from where you left off many weeks ago. This time it’s bathrooms, which makes me very happy as it seems I'm heading towards the third stage of the project; Pipework & Plumbing. I have been handed over the task of kitting out three bathrooms and while some of you might say ‘what’s in a bathroom’...it can’t be that hard? Hard no, but technical yes.Firstly you have to run everything past the plumber and/or carpenter to see if whatever you have picked fits with the flow of the house. Let's take a look at the shopping list:

Main Bathroom

  • Shower Bath. Will that be P-shape, B-shaped, L-shape or standard? with or without shower screen? (maybe not in this case as the bath fits snugly into a wall cavity-so only needs tiling/waterproofing).

  • Electric Shower: Digital, Thermostat, Smart or Regular

  • Toilet-Sink duo: Traditional, Modern or even Quirky 

  • Cabinets and storage etc

En-suite 

  • Shower Tray, which way does the waste flow? Raised step or on the floor. (This was something that was asked of us. Sorry to be so naive, but did not have a clue)

  • Shower Screen: Sliding doors, Pivot or hinged (Christ, what is the difference with the latter two?)

  • Thermostatic Shower: What is one of those? Please don’t cringe I am very new at this 

  • Toilet & Basin: Small & Compact, Twin basin, with or without pedestal. Low cistern or high cistern. Perhaps even a twin basin (space permitting)

Downstairs WC

  • Toilet/Hand Basin. This was easy to decide as I didn’t want one of those tiny sinks where you can only wet your fingers. How on earth is that supposed to sanitise your hands?

Extras: Waste kit, raising step, taps, tiles and god knows what else. 

Measurements are so important as you have to work out if the door will slam into the toilet. What is the maximum projection of the sink from the wall? Positioned this side or that side? Sorry, no can do, as towel rail on that side. You see not difficult but niggly little bits to look out for. One small mistake can render the entire bathroom suite inappropriate. There are also the 1000s of websites to visit. I quite liked: Heatandplum.com,  Victorianplumbing.co.uk and Plumbworld.

However, customer service from Heat and Plumb is rubbish. We missed a deal of the week and was misinformed in regards to dates and customer services,they were so unprofessional. It’s not as clear cut as when to place orders. Your team certainly don’t want to be working around cellophane boxes nor do you want the risk of any injuries on site. Flip side, if you get something too late then you run the risk of holding someone else up. The whole shipment has to be orchestrated to the T.

TIP: When you see a deal you like, go grab it because they end anytime and nowhere on the websites can this be found, hence poor management. 

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